Lois Dant, a 58-year-old woman, was tragically murdered on April 4, 1966, in her ground-floor apartment in Price Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. She was found strangled, raped, and beaten. According to reports, she had been speaking on the phone with a cousin when she heard a knock at the door. She mentioned to her cousin that a man was looking for the caretaker before hanging up to answer the second knock.
Investigators believe this was the moment her killer entered her home.
Her murder was part of a series of killings attributed to the infamous "Cincinnati Strangler," a serial killer responsible for the deaths of seven women in Cincinnati between December 1965 and December 1966. The victims, ranging in age from 31 to 81, were predominantly older women living in various housing complexes. Many of them were sexually assaulted before being strangled. The city was gripped with fear as the murders continued, prompting residents to install additional locks and deadbolts in their homes.
The primary suspect in these killings was Posteal Laskey Jr., a local cab driver. He was arrested on December 9, 1966, and convicted for one of the murders. Although he was never formally charged with the other killings, including Lois Dant’s, authorities and media widely attributed the entire series of murders to him. His conviction led to a death sentence, which was later commuted to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Investigators noted that the murders ceased after his arrest, reinforcing the belief that he was responsible for the crimes.
The case remains a chilling chapter in Cincinnati’s history, highlighting the terror that gripped the city during the reign of the Cincinnati Strangler. While Laskey Jr. was convicted for one of the murders, questions and debates persist regarding whether he was indeed responsible for all seven killings, including that of Lois Dant.
